Unemployment rates of veterans

July 29, 2004

The unemployment rates of male veterans ages 25 to 34 (4.7 percent) and ages 35 to 44 (3.8 percent) were lower than the rates of their nonveteran peers (6.3 and 4.8 percent, respectively) in August 2003.

Among men 45 to 54 years old, however, veterans had a higher jobless rate than nonveterans (5.4 versus 3.6 percent).

Female veterans ages 25 to 34 had a relatively high unemployment rate of 8.2 percent, but the rate was much lower for those ages 35 to 44 (3.4 percent). Among female nonveterans in these age groups, unemployment rates did not differ nearly as much—6.2 percent for those 25 to 34 years and 5.2 percent for those 35 to 44 years old. Female veterans ages 45 to 54 had a jobless rate of 5.4 percent, little different from their nonveteran contemporaries.

The Current Population Survey is the source of these data. To learn more, see Employment Situation of Veterans: August 2003 (PDF) (TXT), USDL 04-1378. The survey of veterans was conducted for the Bureau of Labor Statistics by the U.S. Census Bureau as a special supplement to the August 2003 Current Population Survey. The 2003 supplement was co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans Employment and Training Service. These supplements have been conducted every two years since 1985.